Police will visit Pune's business districts to see if they're implementing work from home

In the wake of the coronavirusoutbreak, the district administration on Wednesday orderedprivate companies to adopt "work from home" policy for theiremployees and warned of "harsh" action if the directive isignored.According to the district administration, an order tothis effect was issued under the Disaster Management Act andfirms not adhering to it will face action under section 188 ofthe IPC.

"From tomorrow (March 19), we will have police teamsin Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad who will physically check privatecompanies in major IT parks and ensure the order isimplemented," said District Collector Naval Kishore Ram.

He said the district administration will take "harsh"action against companies not adhering to the order.

Ram said the directive is not applicable tomanufacturing units where workers perform their duties bykeeping a particular distance from each other.

"This order is applicable for firms which have officeset up and do not come under essential services. With thisorder, call centres whose staffers are required to be presentat the office due to the nature of their work will have to beshut," he said.

In the wake of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19)outbreak and increasing number of positive cases in Punedistrict, the administration has been appealing to firms tofacilitate work from home for their employees.

As on Wednesday, Pune district has recorded 19 Covid-19 cases.